Iceage: For Love of Grace & the Hereafter review – Danish punks ace sixth stellar album on the trot

The quintet add shoegaze, country and 50s rock’n’roll to their core indie-punk sound, resulting in songs that offset lyrical bleakness with gleeful, uplifting music

‘The UK is a hostile environment to do art’: Tara Clerkin Trio on the​ir bold, bright music – and the fight working class artists face

The British band’s breezy, collagist sound has charmed underground music fans – though it belies the family and financial strife that went into their beautiful second LP

Sugar review – Bob Mould’s reunited band still in a sweet spot between noise and melody

After three unlikely Top 10 albums in the 90s, the trio are back – and on the basis of this rapid-fire set, you hope they’ll stick around

Kurt Vile: Philadelphia’s Been Good to Me review – indie rock’s most easygoing dude gets existential

Sounding characteristically virtuosic but unbothered, Vile is more forward-thinking than ever on a record that surveys the bliss and bumps of life in his mid-40s

Genesis Owusu: Redstar Wu & the Worldwide Scourge review – political fury and propulsive fun

Seething with righteous anger and moshpit-ready tracks, the Australian artist’s genre-hopping but cohesive LP makes a case for the durability of the form

Super Furry Animals review – stirring reunion showcases immaculate songcraft

The Welsh band with a weird edge mostly let their formidable music speak for itself, lent a transcendent power by frontman Gruff Rhys’s rich voice

Aldous Harding: Train on the Island review – even whimsy-resistant listeners will love these lucid, luminous songs

Lyrics about naked owls and eating rocks might be irksome to some – but there’s no denying that the alt-rocker’s fifth album is beguiling, tightly written and richly melodic

‘My generation have deluded themselves’: ex-Vampire Weekender Rostam on pop, protest and life as an Iranian-American

Inspired in part by Zohran Mamdani’s NY mayorship, Rostam Batmanglij’s gorgeous new album fuses Americana with sounds of the Middle East. So why isn’t his mum happy?

US band Jimmy Eat World look back: ‘I would play The Middle five times in a row if the other guys would let me’

The emo kings on growing up in Arizona, making it big, and Jim’s annoying wake-up calls

‘Major labels are trying to scoop up everything’: the chaotic future for indie music companies – and why vinyl isn’t working

As stalwarts Sub Pop and Rough Trade celebrate big anniversaries, insiders speak candidly about the challenges they face. Can streaming ever ensure their survival?

Indie music has been invaded by fake fans and cynical viral campaigns​. Here’s how deep it all goes

Companies such as Chaotic Good are confecting social media buzz to promote Geese, Oklou and other indie darlings. Industry insiders reveal how widespread the practice is – even if no-one is sure it actually works

‘It’ll be in my Guardian obituary’: David Balfe on inspiring Blur’s Country House and tripping on Top of the Pops

He was the burned-out bigwig who moved to a very big house. Now back with his first music for decades, he talks about signing the Proclaimers, being punched by Julian Cope – and his Scott Walker inspired trio

Carla dal Forno: Confession review – spartan, sunlit post-punk strikingly contrasts the desperation of desire

The Australian songwriter’s fourth album exists in the captivating chasm between the coolness of her music and the unrepentant obsession of the crush it explores

What’s missing? Everything But the Girl’s 20 greatest songs – ranked!

With their sublime confection of heartbreak and dancefloor power, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt have never sounded like anyone else. Thirty years since Walking Wounded, here’s the duo’s very best

Banned from the radio after Princess Diana died: how Levellers made What a Beautiful Day

‘Its release seemed timely as the Tories had just left office. But then Diana died and all cheerful songs were taken straight off the radio. Boom! It disappeared’